No abstract

Ahsrrucf.-Two spawning and larval rearing trials with striped patao Eugerres hrasiliunus were conducled at Tunas de Zaza, Cuba, to develop a method for experimental-scale mass production of juvenile fish. Mature striped patao were captured from coastal lagoons in September 1988 and January 1989. Sexually mature females and males were induced to spawn by treatment with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). After spawning, eggs were collected and placed in I .2m' cylindroconical fiberglass incubators at densities of 150 and 200 eggs/L. About I h before hatching, eggs were transferred to 5-111' concrete tanks. Larvae were fed a mixture of marine microalgae, rotifers, copepods, and Arremiu nauplii; artificial food was supplied at 30 d post-hatch as a shrimp diet with 25% protein and 0.1-0.4 mm particles. Fourteen of 20 females spawned after 2 or 3 HCG injections (total dose = 6-10 IU/g body weight). Fecundity was 467-2.167 eggs/g body weight. Egg incubation time in seawater (38-39 ppt salinity) was 15-17 h at 29-30 C and 21-23 h at 25-26 C, with 98-100% hatching rate. The oil droplet and yolk sac were consumed by 3 to 5 d post-hatch and first food (rotifers) was eaten during second day. High larval mortalities began after the first month. Growth in 39-ppt seawater was faster (0.41 t 0.01 m d d ) at 29.1 ? 0.3 C than at 25.2 t 0.2 C (0.27 t 0.008 mm/ d). Overall survival was 6-12.5% with tinal densities of 5-10 juvenilesL after 48-60 d. A total of 132,000 juveniles was harvested from the two rearing cycles.